Mental health, bullying and the construction Industry
The aim of this blog post is to start discussion about what others have experienced on their projects
“we don’t want them if they are too weak”
“he’s too weak to deal with the stress”
“would have probably been a sh*t Forman if he can’t handle the pressure”
“we don’t have room to carry weak people”
“He’s [the PM] not that bad, sure he’ll rip your head off and shout at you but he will forget the next day”
These are all phrases I have overheard and challenged in the last two weeks.
To set the context for this post there is a staffing shortage on my section of the project. This is true of both the engineering staff and foremen, with the project struggling to recruit and retain both.
Just over two weeks ago one of the sub-agents left work and has not returned since, I have been told unofficially that he has had a mental breakdown due to work related stress. Last week the stand in section foreman gave his morning brief to the other site foreman and then immediately drove home calling the team Agent to say he felt sick with stress. Yesterday morning the new foreman for my site quit having only started the day before, telling HR that having thought about it overnight he did not want to work in this environment as he had concerns for his mental health.
As I met and showed the new foreman around the site and the various elements of works ongoing he had expressed how surprised he was that the main contractor had not employed a foreman for the works associated with my bridge previously – he then witnessed the PM scream and shout at a section engineer for laying down steel in the wrong place, an honest mistake that took less than half an hour to rectify.
This got me thinking about my own experiences and what I am witnessing. Whilst I am used to operating in high stress environments (as we all are) when deployed on operations and on exercise on the face of it the construction industry (and my project) should not be inducing this level of stress in the team. No one is making life or death decisions and putting soldiers in harm’s way, there is no enemy, no one is throwing bricks or petrol bombs at us, you will not get blown up driving to site – so what’s going wrong?
Whilst researching this I have been shocked to learn that the reason the UK construction industry is ‘the UKs deadliest profession’ is not due to on site accidents but in fact due to the prevalence of suicide amongst construction workers “more than one construction worker every day [being lost] to suicide”, with 450 suicides amongst construction workers in 2016 alone (The Guardian, 2019) and 26% of the workforce considering suicide in 2019 (CIOB, 2020).
I have gone on to read that contributing factors include being away from home (weekly commuting), the physically demanding nature of being on site, financial pressures and job security. Many of these pressures exist in the military so what’s different?
I think there are two key factors. Firstly, and most obviously all service personnel are salaried and so job security is not a concern. Whilst there is a definite and enforced Chain of Command this enables unacceptable behaviour by superiors to be challenged without risk of losing your job. There is also a strictly enforced discipline process to correct behaviours and a complaints process open to all. I have read that 21% of construction workers experienced bulling in 2021 (HSM, 2021). In my opinion the PM for my section is a bully. He will forcefully bully those he is able to into agreeing with him, and is very derogatory towards those he does not agree with or respect. Most worryingly he received a company award at last month’s summer function for “the person who always delivers results”. Whilst he certainly delivers I wonder at what cost in the long term?
Secondly, there is a welfare support network available to every soldier. Firstly, through the chain of command, with Army wide policies on mental health and welfare as well as unit policies for management and implementation. Service personnel also have access to support independently through the welfare department within each unit in addition to a plethora of service charities. This is not the case for most construction workers with the CIOB finding that “56% of construction professionals work for organisations with no policies on mental health in the workplace” CIOB, 2020). I have not been able to find any policy produced by the contractor I’m attached to (and am yet to find anyone in the company who’s ever seen one for a contractor they have worked for in the past).
Feeling insecure or unable to raise concerns, and having nowhere to turn to when struggling to cope is seemingly proving to be a fatal combination for construction workers.
Is what I’m witnessing an exception or a sad industry norm? I am curious to know what other people are experiencing on site? Do your companies have policies on mental health? Are people you work with confident / feel secure enough to call out unacceptable behaviours?
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/aug/13/why-do-so-many-construction-workers-kill-themselves
https://www.hsmsearch.com/Survey-reveals-impact-bullying-construction
Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog 
Good and thought provoking post. Given the overwhelmingly male workforce in the construction industry (not sure what left and right of arc the industry is defined to be), itd no great surprise but still sad that it reflects the wider issue with male mental health. The leading cause of males under 50 years old is suicide. With a compounding factor (10-fold increase in likelihood) if a male is suffering from food insecurity or poverty. With ‘lumpy’ or uncertain income it doesn’t seem a leap of reasoning to see how a bloke could fall into this category.
References for post,
Nhs stats https://www.england.nhs.uk/blog/tackling-the-root-causes-of-suicide/
Samaritans report on comorbidities https://www.samaritans.org/about-samaritans/research-policy/inequality-suicide/
Oxfam report on food poverty https://www.google.com/url?q=http://uwsoxfampartnership.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Food-Insecurity-Literature-Review-Final.pdf&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwi49NvK9_b4AhW0SkEAHUXkBtcQFnoECAkQAg&usg=AOvVaw1u4YnVcUkQIg3FlfvWCaRW
Marcus, a very interesting piece and of importance considering the shortage of construction engineers.
I am beginning to appreciate being stuck here with Aussies although our trends here are much the same.
I feel we are trained for short, sharp bursts of intensity followed by spells of recovery in our cycles (6 month tours as a standard for example). Unlike us, our counterparts on site are facing this pace of life for the foreseeable, without having been given any formal training. It isn’t surprising at all that people are seeking a way out.
That being said, our Project has invested a lot in mental health awareness and are regularly encouraged to offload and talk through it with someone (I’ve been in attendance to 5 events so far in this short period of time). On site, ‘tradies’ (not engineers) have union representatives who ensure workers have representation and they are a force to be reckoned with (able to close down sites completely, at the drop of a hat). Although this avenue comes at a significant productivity cost, I’d imagine it’s good to know that if you’re unfairly treated in any regard, there is someone who can stand in your corner. Due to this power shift, our site lead hands and supervisors (and ultimately superintendent who is RSM equivalent) tend to hold a lot of sway regarding targets and deadlines and are not held accountable when they’re missed.
The engineers however are left explaining, to the cent, why productivity has not met forecasted budgets (doing 12-14 hour days as a standard). I have sat in the car with another project engineer whilst he just broke down and started crying after being berated during a tough week (his site being shut down by the Union and a piling rig due to move on to site the following week at $12k per day stand down cost). That being said, the same PM who flipped her lid, then gathered the rest of the engineers to work through his problem and we got it solved that afternoon. She seemed to have perceived his stress state (having not been witness to the break down) and asked me to also keep an eye on him, offering support as required.
I think it all boils down to cost. Engineering-wise, we have been woefully understaffed (8 out of 16 positions filled, a saving of c. $900k in salary per year) and why would they fill the spots if the work is getting done? Their contract states that they are required to do 7.6 hours per day, plus more as required. My contract here states that I am to work the hours required to effectively fulfil my duties (unfortunately there’s only 24 hours in a day). They have us over a barrel and will continue to take advantage until a serious failure (whether programme, safety or suicide).
…it was ever thus
There has always been a lack of professionalism in construction and that’s what it boils down to.
It’s really easy isn’t it…. ‘when did you stop beating your wife?’
We all genuflect and agree the behaviours are unacceptable.
But where does it come from and what can be done to help?
It’s not so easy is to find practical solutions.
The pressures come from the vanishingly small margins that construction projects run at.
My long-term observation is that site personnel completely forget the power of engineering and the role it can play in doing for a penny what any fool ( am I allowed to say that any more?) can do for a pound.
If the profession is full of those trying to do for 99p what anyone can do for £1 then the margins become fraught….and the pressure rises.
What you are reporting is different response to pressure. Some shout and scream some collapse.
But it’s all because there are three site huts full of QS’s who are parasitic on the crap that’s playing out in the mud.
Do better engineering and you just might buy the margin that might relieve the pressure- metaphorically and actually.
Sadly it is all dependent upon the nature of people and those that are in the predominance. Bullies exist without pressure, usually in ignorance but occasionally because it is their nature. In the utopian world they would be challenged and defeated and all would be well. In reality the most effective course is that of your one day supervisor; walk away from a battle you won’t win, look out for yourself and leave those prepared to tolerate it to prop up that which they don’t react against. I’ve seen too much of it in my time to trust otherwise. Interestingly it always seems that policy and procedures end up protecting the perpetrator and facilitating more unreasonable behaviour than they prevent but that could just be the dozen or so cases I have watched play out.